Review by Yener on May 20, 2019.

Okay, so I’m late to the game on this one. Call it laziness, call it not paying attention, call it what you will, but I've never paid attention to Goatwhore until just recently. I had heard some tracks here and there and they didn't do much for me, probably because their previous offerings were more in the realm of black metal.

A night of late YouTube browsing led me to “Baring Teeth for Revolt” and my anus just wasn't ready. I can’t quite describe the feeling I had when hearing this, but it was like savage bliss. The guitars, drums, riffs, it sounded so violent I couldn't believe just how awesome this was. Roughly five minutes later I had the album ordered. I had to have this.

Sammy Duet is well known for his work in Acid Bath, and for good reason. Acid Bath were an amazing band that pushed the boundaries of what we call rock and metal. Thing is, I had no idea he was in Goatwhore. If I did, I would have paid more attention a long time ago, as I love the fuck out of Acid Bath. 

Here we kick things off with “Poisonous Existence in Reawakening” and boy, these guys don’t fuck around at all. Straight for the throat, chocking the life out of you, riff after riff. This still has the black metal vibe, which is also very apparent on “Unraveling Paradise”, but it’s done extremely well. The songwriting is top notch, the arrangements are very carefully thought out, and everything just makes sense musically. The production and mix on the album are what I would call perfect for this type of album. Punchy, clear, but not too clear, if you know what I mean. This is still definitely rough around the edges and has a lot of bite to it. It’s not overly polished at all.

“Baring Teeth for Revolt” just may be one of the best metal songs ever written. Yeah, I went there. But everything about this song just screams METAL. From the riffs, to the outstanding vocals and perfect drum work, this is just a slice of fucking metal heaven. A big slice at that. Also, that has got to be one of the most brutal, most aggressive guitar tones I've ever heard. Shit is just violent. Sounds like Sammy’s ESP wants to fucking rip your spleen out.

The album features some more dynamic work rather than severely punishing death/black metal. The dynamics are laid out nicely and it appears that there’s something here for everyone, though I’m sure Goatwhore couldn't give a fuck about anything or anyone. These guys just play the music they want to hear. I mean you’re not exactly setting yourself up for success with a name like Goatwhore to begin with. This is top notch stuff, definitely check it out if you like your metal fast, aggressive, and no nonsense whatsoever. You will not be disappointed.

Highlights: Baring Teeth for Revolt, Fucked By Satan, Poisonous Existence in Reawakening, Unraveling Paradise, Reanimated Sacrifice.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by David on February 20, 2014.

There is something to Harvey Milk's music that goes beyond explanation. On the surface of it this music just isn't right, the sludgy imperfection of the sound and Creston Spiers' hoarse hollering are ugly and awkward and can be very difficult to come to grips with. However there is something compelling about them that draws one back, and this album excels at sounding so unpolished and drawn out, yet is so bewitching at the same time.

It's a painfully slow piece, funereal in pace and strained in mood. The notes from the guitar and bass sustain for an eternity, not in an all encompassing drone style, but rather they hang in the air with an unsettling feeling. The sparse drumming sounds laboured with splashing cymbals right at the heart of everything, lazily stalking the lurching rhythm from one crash to the next. Then, of course, there are Creston's vocals. Reeking of desperation and mostly unintelligible, the odd line becomes clear which strangely sounds so mundane (“One more fish steak night. Yeah that's fuckin' funny.”), that it conveys the narrator's sense of helplessness and lack of control; a chain of events set in motion that he no longer has the energy or will to exert control over.

What is most engaging is that the music responds to this despair, sounding positively organic in how it mirrors the subdued crisis. “I am Sick of All This Too” seems about ready to jump-start proceedings with the opening flourish of a rock'n'roll riff, then it frustratingly stalls and hangs until it finds the energy to start again. Second go and it moves a bit further, and then the third time a bit further still... and finally finds itself back at the first hurdle, starting the process again. It's exhausting listening as each return to the beginning feels like another numbing failure.

The introduction of synthesisers through the album further taps into the unsettling atmosphere, “I Know This is All My Fault” opens with a sense of foreboding. As the song progresses and guitars take the fore, the synth becomes more accented and tense always buried in the background where it provides that nagging, wearisome presence. Eventually this all gives way to a broken-down piano section and Creston's soft, barely audible singing; so frail and beaten at this point from all the tension and resigned to the inevitable fate that awaits.

The closer, “I Did Not Call Out”, reaches that conclusion in dramatic style. It builds towards a subdued guitar solo and elegiac harmonies that seem graceful (to use the lyrical closure) in the face of the intense weight that produced them. Just as you begin to think this is the emotional release that the long burdened journey deserves, these very guitar motifs become subverted; a dreadful, drawn out weight piling on that leaves no doubt of the painful, despondent ending.

It's hard to say just how brilliant this album is without taking away from the fact that it is about as unremittingly bleak a piece as I've heard. A Small Turn of Human Kindness is such a tense and draining listen, so caught in a mood that is never to be dispelled. This may all have sounded hyperbolic, but the subtleties of each track and the greater piece as a whole really make this a special album, not just for its year, but any.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 9
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 10
Production:10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.4 out of 10